Assorted Photos

So, I'm sick of organizing my photos into groups...it takes too much time. So here are some cute photos. Make up your own stories...









More later!

Sandcastles - The Experience

Babcai, Mama, Ella, and I enjoyed our first trip to the Sandcastles Children's Museum in Ludington, Michigan. It was REALLY cute! Let me give you a tour...

See Ella playing in the water? If you look at the next picture and can't figure out what she's doing, I'm certainly not going to tell you...



And then there was the tree-house slide...



And fun with Mama and...bugs (thanks Babcia).




And then it was off to the orchard. The perfect spot for a two year-old who LOVES repetition. Grab an apple, put it in the bucket. Grab an apple, put it in the bucket. Wow. I'd love to say more, but what else could I say about it?



And that was the museum! Fun times, and lots of repetition.

Uncle Mott - The Infatuation

So, Ella's newest love is Uncle "Mott". I am no longer Aunt Nannon...I am merely a means to getting to Uncle Mott. In fact, I called my parents' house yesterday and my mom answered the phone saying, "Hi Aunt Karin!".

I heard Ella in the back ground: "Nannon? Mott! Mott! Mott!" Apparently she even picked up another cordless phone, held it to her head and continued calling for Matt. Sheesh.

Here is one of the reasons why she loves him...note the look of adoration when they say bye-bye.

I finally got in!

Well, Matt couldn't handle me anymore, so he had me committed...


Kidding! The finally opened the Ludington Lighthouse for tours :) That break wall and lighthouse are just about my favorite places on earth. I spent countless hours there when I was in high school. I've walked it, jumped off it, and Matt proposed to me there. I love it!

This year I finally got to go inside...here are some snapshots:

This is me on one of the five levels...

Here's Matt, takin' a break...

This is the view from the top (though it doesn't look like much here, does it?)


And my favorite...the lighthouse, my honey, and the beach behind me. Wow :) It was worth the wait (and the $2).

Michigan August: Hot & Cold

The sing about late August, Northern Michigan days is that it can be humid and warm during the day (near 80's, sunny), but when the sun goes down it is just NIPPY!

Take last night, for instance. Yesterday was GLORIOUS! A wonderful, sunny day. Overnight, however, it was only 51 degrees! Dang that's too cold for me!

But I always have my hubby...my adorable, hard-working, sees-life-differently-than-most-people honey. He read the weather forecast, looked at me, and smiled.

"It's getting cold - only four months until Christmas!"

:) Everybody needs a Matt in their lives to keep perspective.

A Baby and a Truck

Saturday night we enjoyed dinner at the Amber Elk Ranch in Scottville, MI. You can see some pix on my sister's blog (www.growingupgabel.com). These are a few of my own.

First, Cammie with Ella and Baby Abby (or Baby Babby, as Ella says). Abby is the daughter of our sorority sister from Kansas City who just HAPPENED to be in Michigan that weekend!



And here we have Ella riding a John Deere "truck". She's a big fan of "trucks" (aka lawn mowers). Uncle Matt is very proud to know that his young niece not only loves princesses and all things pink, but also big rigs and anything with a V8. I think she'll grow up to drive a a pink semi-truck some day. Until then...

Vacation Update

Sorry there aren't any pictures yet. I forgot to pack the computer charger for my computer, and I only have the adapter to put the photos on my laptop, so you'll have to wait for this weekend.

Though I don't have pictures, I've got stories :) For reference, here are the people in the stories:
EG - 2 years old
Mommy - My sister
Ba Ba - aka Babcia, Polish for Grandma
Ja Ja - aka Dza Dza, Polish for Grandpa
Nannon - EG for me
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Mommy: EG, wanna get ice cream?
EG: Tay!
Mommy: (points to food on plate) Not until you're done eating.
EG: (picks up plate and walks to kitchen) Done! Go bye-byes!
Mommy: Dza Dza needs to finish eating, then we can go.
EG: (picks up Dza Dza's plate, still full of food) Done, Ja Ja.
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Nannon: (whistles at EG, like a man whistles at an attractive woman)
EG: (points finger at me) No, Nannon! No woo-woos!
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Dza Dza: Are you stinking EG? Do you have a stinky diaper?
EG: No!
Dza Dza: I think you're stinky!
EG: (giggling) No!
Dza Dza: Stinky butt, stinky butt.
EG: (more seriously than a 2 year-old should ever be) Ja Ja, I not stinky. (EG turns her back to him and sticks out her butt) I not stinky.
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So far, that's all I can remember. Lots of cute pictures, but I can't put those up. Lots of funny chattering, but it's hard to write those out because they aren't really words.

She's exhausting us. Well, her and the 29th Olympiad. If we could pull ourselves away from the TV at night, it might be easier. Actually, it is getting easier now because we're so exhausted we can't stay awake.

My computer chord is coming today, so I'll have more photos soon!

Cute? You decide.

Death to the Doorbell

Ella Bella Bubbles

Summertime and Weddings - God's Gift to Country Music

I truly enjoy country music, I really do. I even own a cowboy hat (I still need boots though). But as I've been listening to it the past few months I've realized that summer and weddings are to country music what steamy sex is to hip-hop: the guarantee to airtime.

For example, in my humble, under-expressed opinion, Faith Hill is not only no longer a country singer (that's a debate for another time), but she is also baby-stepping her way through every poor use of grammar in existence (someone buy her Strunk and White - PLEASE!). Back to my point. Despite the fact that music fans don't know how to classify her work, she still pumps out a hit with a song about summer time...conveniently released in time for those sun bathing days.

It doesn't matter that many former fans no longer consider her a country artist. It doesn't matter that her songs contain such misspoken phrases as "ridin' my kids around piggy back" (hello - the placement of the words here indicates YOU are riding the kids!). And don't forget the incomplete descriptions, like "so hot outside all I can wear is these cutoff overalls and these sandals on my feet" (um, has anyone else noticed that she is, therefore, walking around topless??). Those fabulous bits of lyricism don't matter when a song about sunshine and summertime hits the airways. Instant hit. Full body shudder.

And then we've got the wedding songs. Sometimes I wonder if musicians feel like they aren't breaking into the scene fast enough, or maybe they need a little more attention. Solution? Release a song about little girls, daddies, and weddings anywhere from January to March. The result? Plenty of requests for lil' country brides everywhere.

I get it already. Weddings are hard for dads who have little princesses. Fine. Point made. What I want to know are where are the songs for the dads with three daughters who climbed trees, played with G.I. Joes, dominated the softball field, beat each other up (yes - girls fight too), etc. Where's the song about the dad who's counting down the day until #3 cuts the chord and finally moves out?

I just don't get it. Maybe it's because I wasn't the weepy, sappy, mushy (any other -y words??) gal when I got engaged. Maybe it's because I was living on my own for four years before it happened. Whatever the reason, those heart-string tugging, tear inducing ballads just don't get to me.

Wait, I amend that. They do effect me. They produce the same response as the summer songs. In fact, they're the only things in the world that stir up this feeling: they actually make me look FORWARD to the fall! Because I know then that it'll be winter. Then I'll have a few months free of listening to songs that play based on their topics, not their quality.

In the meantime, I'm gonna work on that song about kicking the kids out of the house. I think it's time. Are you old enough to vote? To drink? To rent a car without your parents? THEN GET OUT OF YOUR PARENT'S HOUSE - THEY'LL APPRECIATE IT! (Sorry - came out of no where. I think I have a new blog topic!)